Never Alone
by BAUreid
Summary: The BAU family's strength is tested when Henry becomes seriously ill and needs all the help he can get. Written by someone who has gone through the same thing at a young age as well. Rated T for some mild adult themes and is set when Henry's four, so Michael isn't part of this.
1. Chapter 1

Hey so quick disclaimer, Will isn't with JJ in this anymore (I'm more on the Jeid train :) ), and Hotch/Morgan are both still part of the team. Unfortunately, I do not own Criminal Minds or any of it's characters, this is purely for entertainment purposes. This is my first fic so please review with any suggestions, ideas or comments! I will be uploading chapter 2 very soon :) Thank you!

••••••• **CHAPTER ONE **•••••••

Work ended late so Reid wasn't able to ride the metro home like he usually did, so JJ offered to take him home. The ride was comfortable, talking about the past case and how glad they were to get a child back to his parents, then as always somehow moving on to a theoretical physics principle.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Henry has a gift for you, he wrapped it himself too. I know it's late but did you want to come over for a coffee or something? I've got decaf."

"I'd like that very much JJ."

By the time they got to the house, Henry was already fast asleep, so JJ paid his sitter and started another pot of coffee.

"How's Henry, is he still sick?" Reid knew Henry had been feeling under the weather for a while now which was a bit unusual for him and JJ had been having to take days off of work.

"He's doing okay but he seems like he's getting worse, I'm taking him into his primary care tomorrow. It's probably just the stomach flu, but I always like to get him checked out."

"That's a good possibility. More than 3 million cases are diagnosed in the US every year, a great number of those being children under the age of 15."

"Ha, thank you Spence. Who needs Google when I've got you."

Reid leaned against the counter watching JJ putting instant coffee in the machine and pulling out two mugs, one which she knew was his favorite. He couldn't help but think of this becoming a daily thing, waking up next to her every morning and going places with Henry. But he knew she didn't see him like that, so he pushed it out of his head. He already considered himself the luckiest person just being her best friend, and that could be enough.

While the coffee was brewing, she walked back to the couch to wait on it, but she tripped on the rug nearly falling into the coffee table had Spencer not been there. Usually his reflexes failed him, but by some will of God he was able to catch her. For a few seconds they both just stood there in the middle of her living room, unmoving and still a bit shocked.

Not knowing how to react, JJ gently squeezed his arm and rested her head on his chest. She wasn't sure if this was okay with him, given his disdain for touch, but when he moved his arm around her back to hold her closer, she took that as her answer. Spencer rubbed her back, just standing there in the comfortable silence. JJ's head against his chest could hear his heart start to race, so she finally took the leap. She looked up at him, took a breath, and stretched to place a kiss on his lips. Her heart sped up and she felt like she had hundreds of butterflies in her stomach. They danced around this for a while now, never going for it. When Reid pulled back she started kicking herself thinking she had made a mistake.

"Spence, I'm so-" JJ's apology was cut off when Reid lifted her up, moving to the couch, with her legs straddling his lap. He held her jaw and kissed her more deeply this time, moving his hands under her ass. JJ was on top of the world, she hadn't really expected this from Spencer, but it was a very welcomed surprise. Hands began to roam, they just couldn't get close enough. JJ couldn't take it anymore and stood up, now leaving Spencer to think he messed up.

"Spence, come with me." JJ held her hand out leading him to the bedroom.

"Are you sure, is this okay?" Reid was breathing heavy, he never in his wildest dreams would have thought this would happen.

"More than okay Spence."

••••••••••••••

So, that "cup of coffee" late after work, turned into a _bit_ more than that.

When the 6 am alarm blared through the quiet room, they just laid there for a while enjoying being with one another. Neither was really sure what was next but for now they just had each other. They got dressed and JJ started another pot of coffee, this time intending to drink it. They expected to have some down time given that Henry wasn't supposed to wake up until 7, but they knew that wasn't going to happen once they heard vomiting from down the hall.

••••••••••••••

"Help" was all Henry could whimper when they came in his room. Reid held a hand to his head and felt the fever.

"What do you think, the flu?" JJ rubbed the boys back and attempted to change his pajamas.

"Probably, I'll take a look." He knelt down to Henry's level to see if they were missing something. Before Reid could even completely check the boy out, his heart shattered. It was much, much more serious than the flu. He nearly missed the bruising and swelling around his eyes, this wasn't a normal flu. "Jayje, get a bag together he needs to go to the ER now."

"What? I thought it was the flu?"

Spencer looked over the blond and innocent 4 year old in front of him. Surely enough it was all there; the hard distended belly, bruising, fatigue, bone pain, and shortness of breath. Any parent's worst nightmare. Henry threw up again moments later, what looked like dark coffee grounds. Blood.

"Uncle Spencer… can't… breathe." Henry started to lose even more of the remaining color left in his skin and became desperate for air.

"JJ I need a phone, we need an ambulance" He yelled down the hall. She ran back to her baby's room and saw just how quickly her boy had deteriorated within a matter of minutes. Spencer then dialed the three numbers he never expected to call for his godson.

"911, what is the nature of your emergency."

"My name is Spencer Reid, I need an ambulance at 4250 Weschester Drive. 4 year old male struggling to breathe, fever, vomiting blood."

"Okay an ambulance is on the way, please stay on the line until the paramedics arrive."


	2. Chapter 2

"Quantico Fire and Rescue!" Reid had never been more thankful for those four words.

"He's back here." Now, JJ was losing at holding back her tears. "His name is Henry."

Henry started to get visibly afraid, and the paramedics took note of that.

"Hey Henry! We're here to help you get to feeling better. Have you seen the inside of an ambulance?" Henry shook his head as the two men started to get him hooked up to a monitor and prepare to start an IV. "Well you're special enough to ride super fast in one! How does that sound?" Henry gave his first smile of the day, and although weak, it allowed JJ to take a much needed breath.

"This is just some air that will make it easier to breathe, it might tickle your nose a little." The taller paramedic smiled, looping a nasal cannula behind his ears. "Okay Henry you look pretty brave and strong to me, am I right?" Henry nodded. "Well I'm going to put a super tiny tube in your arm that will give you medicine to make you feel a little better, but it's going to give you a little pinch at first. Do you want to squeeze your daddy's hand real tight?"

Spencer's heart soared when the paramedic referred to him as Henry's dad and couldn't help but smile when Henry's little hand reached for his.

"1, 2, 3 poke." Henry barely flinched as the needle pierced his skin, the IV poke was nothing compared to the overall pain he was in. "Perfect buddy. I'll give you some medicine that will make the hurt go away. Just keep breathing nice and deep."

JJ and Reid had everything they needed ready. It felt like hours since the paramedics came but in reality it was less than 5 minutes. They loaded him onto the stretcher and covered his tiny body with a thin white blanket. Laying on Henry's bed, Reid saw the plush stegosaurus he had got him while on a case. The toy had quickly become one of Henry's favorites, so Spencer slipped it to the boy's hands.

"BP is down to 87/45. Pulse 133. Do you want to call a helo to national?" The taller man nearly whispered as they loaded the stretcher into the ambulance sitting in the driveway.

"Well get him to MWC first, have a helo ready. He's going to continue to desaturate."

"What, what does that mean. What's happening?" JJ was becoming panicked. She didn't understand what the EMT's were whispering, and she had no clue what was wrong with her son. She felt like she was handcuffed, having to watch her son approach death's door. She felt useless.

"His vitals are dropping so once we get to the local hospital he might need to be LifeFlighted to Children's National Hospital in D.C. But I promise you, we are going to take the best care of your son." The paramedic reached for her hand and gave a comforting squeeze.

After they loaded him up, and JJ and Reid were no longer within earshot, the two paramedics were able to relay just how serious this was to the local hospital's dispatch.

"Dispatch this is Medic Unit 28, we have a 4 year old male vomiting blood, difficulty breathing, low oxygen and BP sat, circular eye bruising, distended abdomen with a possible lump. He fits with sepsis criteria, so we are following prehospital protocol. We have an ETA of 5 minutes, patient is continuing to desat, we are requesting helo transport to children's national."

"Medic Unit 28, helicopter will be ready in 30 minutes, we will stabilize him in trauma bay 2 and get him prepped for transport."

"Medic 28 copy, dispatch show us en route."

••••••••••••••

Once the car was parked, the two came inside looking for Henry Jareau. They found him in a trauma room, covered in heart monitors, two IVs, and oxygen support; already being prepared to ride a helicopter to D.C.

"Mommy!" Henry cried. JJ looked to the nurse at the room's door, not sure if she could even hug her baby boy. The nurse kindly nodded, so she held him carefully, letting him know just how much she loved him.

Reid let her have that moment alone and went to locate the doctor in charge to find out something, anything.

"He's very sick. Without any tests or scans at this moment, we can't definitively conclude what is going on. He's going to be up in the air in maybe 20 minutes. Only Henry can go in the helicopter, but I promise, the flight medics are great at what they do and are going to take the best care of him."

Spencer felt slightly reassured with this, but was still concerned about how they would get to the hospital fast enough so Henry wouldn't be alone. Streets were backed up because of weather and resulting traffic, so it would take a couple of hours to get there by car. However, it didn't take a genius to think about getting a police escort.

"This is Agent Hotchner." Aaron's stoic voice rang out through the phone.

"Hotch it's Reid. I need a big favor. JJ and I need an escort to D.C."

"Wha-" Reid cut him off; they needed to be fast.

"It's Henry. He's being flown to a children's hospital there. Hotch. Please."

"Vehicles will be ready to go when you get here." The team _technically _did have some work to do in D.C. and weren't busy with a case at the moment so they had a work-related excuse. Hotch knew Reid and JJ were best friends. Right now, it didn't matter if they were more than that, Henry needed all the help he could get. He didn't care what Strauss would think about them using FBI vehicles for non-case related matters, and thinking about it she did owe him a favor. He needed to help however he could. If this was Jack, he would throw all BAU rules out the window to be with him.

"Henry, these are pilots that are going to help you get to Washington D.C. Mommy and Spence are going to be there with you real soon. But we need you to be super brave and we'll see you in a little bit!" JJ nearly choked on the lump building in her throat. "Mommy loves you so, so much."

••••••••••••••

The whole team was in the bullpen, being that it was a work day. They were all full of questions as to why JJ and Reid were _both _late. Especially Reid, he's barely had a sick day to his name.

JJ decided she wanted her team with her. She needed the help, so she gave Hotch the go ahead to tell them to come. She didn't have a ton of family, let only many that lived near. Her mom was on vacation in the Bahamas, Will moved back to Louisiana after their split, and her dad was dead. Her family was the BAU. When Will began to abuse alcohol and was subsequently fired, they were there for her. When her and Will finally split, the team was there for her. And year after year on the anniversary of Roslyn's suicide, they are there for her.

Garcia was sitting at Morgan's desk poking fun at something, most likely about her suspicions of Reid and JJ. Rossi was struggling to solve a crossword created by Reid the day before, and the others were all going on their third coffee of the day.

"I need your attention." Hotch spoke from the door to his office.

"Do we have a case sir? I didn't have one prepared." Garcia was confused, she should have known before Hotch if they did.

"No, worse. Henry is sick, he's being flown to D.C. Reid and JJ are on their way here right now and SUV's are lining up. She wants you there if you can. We leave in 15."

No one had time to process what was happening. What did "sick" mean. Like a bad flu? No, he wouldn't need to be flown for that. Maybe an allergic reaction? Or maybe another febrile seizure. Whatever it was, they didn't like where any of this was going.

Go bags were ready and they were all preparing to head out to the garage. Minutes after Hotch's announcement, both JJ and Reid came into the bullpen.

"JJ- Hi are you-" Garcia cut herself off from asking if she was okay, she knew there was no way she was okay.

"Thank you guys." JJ's eyes started to well up. "I want to fill you in with what is happening, but I barely know myself. The paramedics said he was vomiting blood, um his oxygen is low, and his stomach is very bloated. His eyes are swollen and bruised looking. His blood pressure started falling as he got into the ambulance and that's most of what I know. But they don't know what is making him so sick yet." She wiped her face with her hands. Retelling it made her see just how bad this was, but she didn't know what to do. And Reid wasn't spouting off statistics, so that either meant he didn't know anything, which was rare, or he had an idea of what it was, but was hiding it from her.

"Jayje, I'm- I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do, anything you need?" Henry was like a son to Emily and the team. He's a kind, sweet, loving kid.

"You guys already are. I mean, you're getting me to my boy."

Reid walked to the kitchen to make JJ a cup of coffee the way he knew she liked it. He needed to keep himself busy in an attempt to keep his mind from wandering. He didn't know what to do to help, but he was trying. He tried to keep his mind from focusing on Henry's symptoms. He was almost sure he knew what this was, but he couldn't even say it to himself. He had loved that boy from the moment he first held him, he couldn't lose him, he needed him. Even the thought of possibly losing Henry made him feel like throwing up.

He handed her the cup and quickly slipped to the bathroom. He sat on the closed toilet lid, covering his face with his hands. Now he could cry. He couldn't in front of JJ, and not in front of Henry or the team. He needed everyone to think all was okay, he didn't know why. Everyone knew this was bad, but he felt the need to be strong for that 4 year old on his way to a hospital far from home, scared and sick. The others needed hope and he needed to give it to them.

He splashed water on his face, forced a smile in the mirror, and made it look like all was good. It was time to go.

••••••••••••••

Hey, so I'm sorry this chapter wasn't that good, but I will be uploading again soon. In the next chapter it will finally be revealed what's going on with Henry. I know Will is sort of a grey area right now, but I will go more in depth about that soon. I know a lot of people love him with JJ and he might be a bit OOC in this, but this is more of a Jeid fic, so I'm hoping people will be okay with it. Please review, I'd love to know what you think! Comments, suggestions, chapter ideas, and things you would like to see included in the fic are greatly appreciated! This is just the beginning so it will get better and more detailed as I go. Thank you for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

"I- I'm Jennifer Jereau, my son Henry is here. He came in on a helicopter."

"He's right there, room 4."

Everyone stayed back, giving JJ time to be with him alone.

"Spill it kid. What's going on with him." Morgan was losing it, he needed something to go off of.

Spencer paused, scared to even admit to himself. Maybe if he just didn't say it, it wouldn't be true. "Petechiae around his eyes like that, the only non-trauma cause that includes all of his symptoms would be-" Reid was cut off by a nurse telling him Henry was asking for him. Morgan smiled at him, pushing him to go. He could wait a little longer.

The medical team worked quickly; drawing blood, giving fluids and meds, and running test after test. With Henry finally resting, the ER doctor called JJ out of the room. She asked Reid to come. He knew statistics about everything, maybe he could think of something, maybe he could help? She didn't want to admit she really wanted him there for support and a hand to hold, but she needed her best friend right now.

"Please sit down." The tone of the doctor's voice made JJ's heart drop.

They were in a quiet room with a table and a few chairs, along with a concerning amount of tissues. A second doctor entered the room soon after, a kind looking man, but JJ panicked when she saw the words "PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY" embroidered on his white coat.

"The CT scan we performed on Henry-" The ER doctor coughed in an attempt cover his nervousness. "shows a mass in his abdomen that is pressing on his lungs, which explains his difficulty breathing."

The second doctor took over, "We can't say for sure at this moment, but given all of his symptoms, including the bruising around his eyes and his preliminary scans, we think this is Neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer."

The room fell completely silent. The blond 4 year old boy in the next room over who loved dinosaurs, cars, and airplanes; the boy who loved life, had cancer, and one with a 45% survival rate. Reid squeezed JJ's hand and gave her time to formulate her thoughts. He knew it. The moment he saw Henry's eyes, he knew it. The bruising and swelling around the eyes is a telltale sign for this disease. Usually he liked being right, he was used to it, but right now he wished he was anything but.

"Wh- what do we do now." JJ's voice cracked, she grabbed from one of the five tissue boxes around her and wiped her eyes. Her worst fear had come true.

"So, my name is Dr. Gramling, and I am the director of pediatric oncology here." The man spoke gently. "The usual treatment protocol for this cancer is chemotherapy, radiation, a resection surgery, and back to back stem cell transplants." He paused to let the information sink in. "It's a lot I know, but this is what will give him the best fighting chance."

The man pulled out a clipboard with a paper Reid recognized as a surgical consent form. "He will need a biopsy and a bone marrow aspiration today to confirm this. During that surgery we will also place a small tube, called a central line, in his chest for him to receive medicine without having to be poked all the time. While he is still under we will run a full body PET scan to see the extent of the disease and if it has spread. After he wakes up he will be moved to the Oncology Unit. This is the absolute worst part of my job, but we caught it and Henry can beat this."

—

Henry woke up while his mom was still in the other room. He was feeling better after fluids and pain and nausea meds, but he was scared. Scared of the unknown beeps, the strangers in white coats, and scared of the tube in his arm.

Henry's eyes started to well up and the nurse charting behind the computer noticed.

"Hey Henry, are you hurting?" He shook his head in response.

He could tell Henry was scared so he pulled a chair to his bed. "My name is Jordan, and I'm a nurse. Sort of like a doctor but I get to work more closely to kids like you. I know hospitals can be scary, especially when you're not sure what everything is." Jordan gently squeezed his little hand. "So I'll tell you what, I'm going to have one of my friends come here and help you out. Don't tell anybody, but I hear she carries bubbles in her pocket." Jordan winked.

Henry calmed down and a few minutes later a blonde woman walked in with a cart full of toys, stickers and crafts.

"You must be Henry!" The woman smiled big at the child in front of her. "I'm Katie. I'm not a nurse, I'm a bit different. I'm a Child Life Specialist, a big word I know. But my job is to help kids not feel so scared. Pretty much means I get to blow bubbles, build legos, and do whatever sounds fun to you and other kiddos. I don't do anything that pokes or hurts, all I bring is fun. Does that sound okay?"

Henry gave a faint smile and sat up a bit straighter, he liked the idea of building with Legos.

"So what do you like to do when you're at home Henry?"

"I like legos, and puzzles, and cars. And sometimes I color pictures with my mom. She's an FBI person and is really cool." His classic 4 year old personality was starting to shine through.

"No way! I've always thought that was a super cool job. So I gotta tell you Henry, I'm not super good at building Legos, so do you think you could help me? I think I've got one you'd really like."

Katie handed him a brand new box of a police chase set with a pair of burglars. "Now I know this isn't exactly FBI, but I think it will work."

"No way! I been wanting this one forever."

They spent 20 minutes laughing and building before a doctor called her out of the room, she assured Henry she'd be right back.

"His scans came back and it's cancer like we thought. His mom has agreed to have you tell him." He checked his watch. "We need you to prepare him for surgery in about twenty minutes."

She nodded. She'd been working here for almost 8 years, and no matter how many kids she had to break the news to, it would never get any easier. She remembered the day a nurse had to break that same news to her as a kid, it turned her life upside down.

"Told you I'd be back!" The boy in front of her was no longer hiding under a blanket like he was when she first met him. He was forgetting about his IV, wasn't pulling at the nasal cannula, and wasn't jumping at each and every beep or alarm. He was coming back to himself, smiling as he reenacted a police chase.

"So I have some more stuff we can play with, if you'd like we can play doctor with the real stuff." She pulled a tupperware box off of her cart labeled "CANCER". Part of her job was to teach kids what everything around them did and why they needed it. She had to explain to kids why they were having to go into surgery, have tests, and sleep in hospital beds. "So Henry this box is all for you! This here is a special doll that will get to be your patient and we are going to work together to make him all better. So first, what do you think those stickers on your chest do?"

"Umm I don't know. They're sticky and make me like a robot kind of."

"That's one idea! So what those are doing is showing the doctors how well your heart is doing, same goes for this red light on your finger and that squeezy cuff on your arm. They might get annoying but they are very important. So how about we put some on our patient to see how his heart is doing?" They stuck stickers on the dolls chest and wrapped a pulse oximeter around it's hand. "What should we name this doll?"

"Um, how about Billy Bob." Henry grinned.

"Alright doctor, Billy Bob needs you." Katie acted serious. "So this little tube in your arm is also important, when you are too sick to drink well, this tube puts super clean water into your body. It's sort of like a straw but super duper tiny. And guess what doc, Billy Bob needs some help with that too!"

"Okay billy bob, this only hurt a little." Henry explained, remembering what the EMTs told him. "Billy Bob" was helping Henry understand and he started to become less afraid.

"So you know how you've been feeling super sick?" Henry nodded continuing to help his patient. "So the doctors have figured out what's going on. You remember those pictures they took of your belly where you had to lay really still? Those pictures showed us that you have something called cancer."

"What that?" Henry asked. His innocence broke her heart.

"Cancer is when your body gets confused and starts fighting itself, and it makes you really sick." Explaining cancer, or really any disease, to a child was always difficult. "But the good news is we can fix it! And part of the way we fix that is by giving you a medicine that destroys all that cancer and bad cells, but it will make you feel sick for a little while and your hair will come out."

"My hair gonna fall out?"

"Yeah it will, but it will grow back! Do you see how long my hair is buddy?" He nodded, not understanding what she was getting at. "Well my hair fell out when I was a kid just like you, I had cancer too. But now my hair is super long. And before my hair came out, I got to put color spray in it and had lots of fun, I had a goodbye hair party."

"Do I get to do that too?"

"You'll have to ask your momma. But today, in just a little the nice doctors and nurses are going to take you upstairs to have surgery, do you know what that is?"

"Oh I think my grandpa has that."

"Okay, well you don't need to worry because they are going to give you some silly medicine that will make you fall asleep and you won't feel anything. While you are asleep they are going to place a soft tube in your chest so that you don't have to be poked to give you medicine, I have one in this box just like it so Billy Bob can have one too."

Spencer and JJ walked in expecting to see Henry in pain or asleep, and were surprised to see him sitting up, laughing.

"Momma! Spencer, this is Katie and she got me Legos."

JJ wiped away her stray tears, she didn't want to show Henry how terrified she was. Before she could go and give him a hug, a woman in surgical scrubs came up behind her.

"It's almost time for him to go upstairs." She smiled at her softly, knowing this was probably the worst day of her life. "You can give see you later hugs and kisses. We're going to take good care of your baby."

JJ hugged her 4 year old and struggled to let go. Henry thankfully didn't understand how seriously ill he was, and that was a gift. But having to watch him be wheeled down the hallway for his first ever surgery, playing with the doll Katie had given him, broke her. Looking back at the now empty room, she slid down the wall, finally letting it all out.

Spencer just sat down right next to her, squeezing her hand as she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't know where they stood or what the future looked like, but he knew he'd always be there for her, no matter what.

—-

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have a similar cancer to what Henry does in this story (first diagnosed when I was 9 but relapsed) so I'm trying to find the balance of making it realistic and also having it make sense to readers. Thank you for reading and please consider reviewing, I'd love to know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

The team was still patiently waiting in one of the private ER family rooms. It was a nice break from the uncomfortable waiting room they had been in. They had seen kids come and go all day, but none of them Henry. If they were honest with themselves, none of them wanted JJ or Reid to come out. They didn't want any news, none of them were ready to hear what was making Henry so sick. By now they knew it wasn't another febrile seizure or appendicitis.

Sitting in the quiet room, walls covered with a calm forest mural Henry would love, it looked as if the team had collectively bought out the entire gift shop. Everyone had Emily wrap all the gifts they bought because it seemed no one had wrapped a gift in their life. That gave them all a laugh, a short break from the hell around them.

"Hey guys." Reid now appeared in front of them, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"Spencer." Garcia hugged him tight, and surprisingly he reciprocated. "Do you know anything?"

"Um, yeah. So that's why I'm here." He took a seat in the small circle of chairs the team had pushed together. Once again, Reid's lack of rambling scared the team. He sat quietly to formulate his thoughts. In truth he was waiting a few more moments in hope he would suddenly wake up and see it was just a nightmare. No luck. "So they ran a CT scan as you know, and blood work. So-" Reid's voice broke. He didn't want to do this or be here, he wanted to take that kid home and run away from it all. He needed everything to be okay again. To have Henry back playing with Legos, or running around as astronauts with him. He knew the team had been waiting and were worried too so he powered through.

"They discovered a mass in his abdomen." He saw each of their faces drop, one by one. "It's pressing on his lungs and liver and from all of the symptoms they think it's a type of cancer called Neuroblastoma."

Words were lost. Now it was real. They dealt with serial killers daily, but this was definitely worse. Henry was innocent, all of them would trade places with him in a heartbeat.

"Right now, they're taking him to surgery. He has to have biopsies and a line placed in his chest for-" Spencer coughed to cover his voice crack. "for chemo. Then while he's still asleep, they'll do more scans to see the extent." Tears left his eyes once again. He knew the statistics, he'd seen it before. He knew this was bad. He knew too well, there was a large possibility Henry wouldn't make it.

••••••••••••••

The rest of the team left the hospital to book rooms at a nearby hotel, thankfully they already had the week off. Reid stayed back to help.

"Spence." She lifted her head from her hands to look at him next to her. "What are the numbers, what's going to happen with my baby." JJ looked absolutely desperate in a way Reid hadn't seen her before.

He paused and took a deep breath. "Statistics and numbers don't mean anything when it comes to Henry. They only sum up what has happened in the past to others. But this is Henry; the strongest, smartest, kindest kid I know. I know Henry can fight this." That was most likely the only time in history that Spencer Reid ever dissed the importance of facts and numbers. He moved to wrap his arms around her and held her tightly while they sat on the cold tile of the ER. Now it was a waiting game.

When JJ got herself put back together, she called Will to let him know, he quickly booked the next flight up.

Last year when Will's partner was shot in the line of duty, it completely destroyed him. He drank every night to avoid the pain and when it began to affect his work, he was fired. JJ had tried everything to bring him back, to save their relationship. In the end, they decided that a split was for the best, the event sort of brought to light problems they were already having. Will moved back down to Louisiana to be near his mom who was sick and soon checked himself into rehab. From what JJ last heard he was making huge improvements and she was really proud of him. He always made sure to call Henry every night to read to him. He loved Henry completely. She just hoped Henry's diagnosis wouldn't destroy all of the progress he had made.

Shorty after, a nurse told them they needed to turn over the room to another patient and let them know about the OR waiting room. The change of scenery was nice. Really the whole hospital was very beautiful, but it was still a hospital. No place for a kid.

JJ tried to sleep or play a game on her phone but she couldn't focus, she felt like she was going to panic. She had absolutely no control here, she couldn't help him, she couldn't kiss his head and make everything better. She felt useless. She paced, then splashed cold water on her face in the bathroom, paced some more. Eventually, a nurse called her last name and she finally took a deep breath. Reid told her he was going to hang back and walked to the gift shop on the first floor.

The room was filled with get well soon balloons and cards, posters covered with affirmations, teddy bears, and a wall of socks. Looking at those socks, one caught his eye. A blue pair just covered in coconuts, pretty random but it reminded him of a joke Henry told him on his birthday.

"_What is brown, hairy and wears sunglasses? A coconut on vacation!_"

Henry was always prepared with jokes like that. It made it hard for Reid to come up with one he hadn't heard. Even more perfect he found one of those "999 best jokes" books he knew he would love, even if he already knew most of them.

Reid was never good at wrapping gifts, and Emily had already gone to the hotel, so he bought the paper and sat in the waiting room with a youtube tutorial. It was quite a sight, a grown man sitting on the floor, struggling to cut paper and wrap it around a rectangle.

A little while later, after many failed attempts and somehow cutting his finger, he had a somewhat decent gift finished with a bow to cover his mistakes. The kid was almost five, it would be okay, right? He signed a card with googly-eyed dinosaur and tried to think of a joke Henry hadn't heard.

"_Henry, my best buddy. I can't wait until we can play dino hunt and seek again soon! But for now, I've got a joke for you. _

_Why did the cookie go to the hospital?_

_Because he felt crummy!_

_-Spence :)_"

Admittedly it wasn't his best work, most of his jokes revolved around quantum physics, but he knew Henry wasn't ready for those _just_ yet.

His phone buzzed in his pocket along with JJ's ringtone.

"_JJ_

_A loopy 4 year old is asking for his best friend. _

_7th floor, room 25"_

A smile soon met his face. He loved that kid, more than life itself. And not just Henry.

••••••

Thank you for reading! All suggestions, comments, and reviews are greatly appreciated :)


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